WSBTV
August 30, 2020
CHAMBLEE, Ga. —
Chamblee police have confirmed that a 1-year-old boy who was kidnapped
at gunpoint on Saturday as his mother walked him in a stroller has been
found safe.
Two suspects are in custody.
Police said the boy was reunited with his mother at the Chamblee Police Department Saturday evening around 6 p.m.
The incident unfolded Saturday around 12:30 p.m. at the Balfour Chamblee Apartments on Clairview Drive. The boy’s mother, Leslie Bamaca, told police she was walking Mateo in his stroller near their apartment when a man got out of an Acura SUV and pointed a gun at her.
Chamblee police said Leslie Bamaca was able to grab the gun from the
man and tried to shoot him, but the gun didn’t go off. She ripped his
pants and took one of his shoes.
A second suspect then got out of the SUV’s passenger seat and grabbed
the child. The two suspects took off in an Acura SUV toward I-85.
Police arrested and charged Maynor Dario Valera Zuniga and Kristin
Nicole Valera Zuniga. The couple faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated
assault and battery, according to DeKalb County jail records.
Jessica Bamaca lives with her sister, her nephew and baby Mateo’s
father, Erick Montufar. Jessica Bamaca said the family is beyond
grateful to have her nephew home.
“I thank God for the opportunity to see him again,” Bamaca said. “We’re
just so grateful toward him and toward all the people who helped us out
as well. It feels comforting that he’s finally home.”
Jessica Bamaca said she heard her sister scream her name around 12:30 p.m and she ran outside.
Jessica Bamaca said her sister was bleeding and crying and said someone had kidnapped her son.
“From there on, it was just a nightmare for five hours until finally,
we got the news that they had found him, and that they were taking him
back to the police station to be reunited with my sister and his
father,” Jessica Bamaca said.
Jessica Bamaca said she thinks her sister was throwing away the trash
and was just going for an afternoon walk, when all of a sudden, a car
pulled up. Jessica Bamaca said a man got out of the car and immediately
started trying to take the baby out of the stroller.
As Leslie Bamaca fought with one suspect, the other took the baby.
Jessica Bamaca said the suspects were complete strangers.
“We have no idea who they are. It’s the first time we’ve seen them,”
Jessica Bamaca said. “We don’t know where they came from. We don’t know
what their intentions were.”
Jessica Bamaca said her sister fought back as any mother would.
“She fought back with all her strength. She fought back until the last
second,” Jessica Bamaca said. “She put herself in front of that car. She
ran behind that car. She did all she could.”
Jessica Bamaca said her family is thankful to God that Mateo is safe.
“What I took away personally from this was that God has total, complete
control of our lives,” Jessica Bamaca said. “This is something that was
out of our control so we gave it 100% to him, and we give him honor and
glory for letting us have him back in our arms.”
Jessica Bamaca said that when police found Mateo with the suspects in
Carroll County, they had dressed him up like a girl to disguise him.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case.
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